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Major Communications
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Major Communications
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Most poorly trained salespeople tend to lower the price as a first response to price resistance. One of the important things I have discovered in sales these past 30 plus years is that a person’s self-image or self-concept is a critical issue in the area of overcoming price resistance.
Anyone with a low self-image selling, whatever they sell, will tend to reduce
price when price is challenged. What these people are looking for is
validation, approval or acceptance or all three. You are hoping to gain these
from the prospect when you lower the price. What you actually do is lose in
many ways:
-you lose income.
-you can lose self-respect.
-you can lose a customer anyway.
-you can lose your job.
A person with a high self-esteem is not looking for these three elements. They sell the value of their product or service, they sell the value of working with them or their organization and they sell the benefits of what they sell. They tend to successfully resist price resistance.
Price will always seem high to a prospect or customer if the perceived value is low. The key to effectively handling price resistance is to understand this simple yet profound concept. People say they want low price but what they really want is low cost. What is the difference?
Low price is what the customer pays for your product or service now. Low cost is what they pay for it over time. For example if they buy an inexpensive piece of equipment to save money and it is in constant need of repair because it breaks down a great deal, they will have a higher cost of ownership over time. They may have saved money initially, but their cost overall will be much higher than if they had invested more in a better piece of equipment.
In most cases we get what we pay for. Buy cheap and you get less value over time. Buy expensive and you get higher value or lower cost over time. What are you selling high value or low price? Personally I would rather sell a high priced product or service than a low priced one. It is much easier to justify high price, if the value is there, than poor quality and constant product/service problems.
What is your first reaction to price resistance to sell value or to lower the price? I have done both but I have learned there are times when it makes sense to lower price and there are times to walk away from the business. You must decide, don’t put this decision in the hands of the prospect or customer.
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